Andy Kavoori’s talk, titled “The Word and the World: Lessons from South Asia and Beyond,” will focus on a theorization of contemporary media practices around the interrelated network of what he calls the “logics of globalization”. These include capitalism, nationalism, modernity and post-colonialism. He will seek to demonstrate the complexity of these logics in the working of media in South Asia and beyond.

Anna Morcom is Professor of Ethnomusicology at Royal Holloway University in London. She will speak from her book, Illicit Worlds of Indian Dance: Cultures of Exclusion, which was awarded the 2014 Alan Merriam prize book award by the Society for Ethnomusicology. In this talk, Professor Morcom covers multiple worlds of Indian dance - from courtesans to the Bollywood fitness craze. She examines male, female and transgender dancers and details the forces of inclusion/exclusion that have shaped these worlds of Indian performing arts.